091316-House Call
LL: It's been almost six months since you left the Imperial Palace. You knew Earth was big, but... You probably could have gotten here faster if you hadn't made sure to avoid major human settlements, and anywhere that looked dangerous. But here you are, just outside of a small shack with a radio tower. The coordinates of the last place Varani Mander checked in from, nearly a sweep ago. CC: He wastes no time heading over to the shack and knocking on the door. Ramira's halberd is held firmly in his other hand, can't be too careful on Earth. LL: There's no answer, but the force of your knock pushes the door open. It looks like someone busted the lock with blunt force. CC: This probably wasn't the scientist's doing. He takes a careful glance around what he can see of the shack from the doorway. LL: Inside, the small shack is spartan. sunlight from the window has faded a sleeping bag and pillow that are laid out on the floor, and small creatures skitter around the corners. The rest of this place looks like it was raided. Tables are flipped and broken, radio equipment destroyed, and small pieces of paper scattered all over the place. LL: Someone has spray painted all over the walls: "NO TROLLS WELCOME!" and "HUMANS FIRST!" LL: On a nearby table, someone has left a DVD. It's been labelled "IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR TROLL SPIES" CC: He sighs at the graffiti, of fucking course it was the humans. CC: This whole shack could be a trap. Standing as far away from the table and disc as he can, he holds out the halberd towards the DVD, carefully sliding the blade under it to lift it off the table and pull it to himself. LL: you manage to get the disc away just as a board swings down from the ceiling, a few nails crudely hammered through it, with something black and noxious dried on their ends. If you'd been standing there, it would have caught you right in the stomach. CC: He scoffs at the trap, looking around the room for anything else of note. CC: Maybe the scattered papers were important documents. LL: On the floor you see a small framed picture of two female rust bloods, it looks like mother and daughter. LL: As for the papers, if they said anything important, water damage from the leaking roof, and sunlight, have made them unreadable. If Varani had notes, they went with her wherever she did, if she's still alive. CC: He again makes good use of his halberd to bring items to him with minimal danger, draws in the picture. Probably the trolls who lived here. They didn't deserve those damnable humans wrecking their shit. He moves to leave the shack, preferring to not hang around inside the booby-trapped place while he watches the DVD. LL: Where will you go to watch the DVD? You know a couple days drive from here, there was a motel where the owner didn't ask questions, and you could swing a room there. But that's a few days there and a few days back. You could try breaking into someone's house around here to watch it, while they're gone. CC: It's a bit of a risk, but he chooses his own laptop to be the recipient of the mysterious disk. Popping in the DVD and setting it on the ground a few feet away in case it makes his laptop explode or something. LL: It takes the disc a few minutes to load up, but after a moment, a dialogue box appears in the middle of the screen. "Play Princess_Tutu.avi?" CC: He steps forward to click play and steps back again. CC: "Princess Tutu?" LL: You remember hearing about that in your history books. Queen Lila apparently had a kid, who vanished out of the palace when your mom assassinated her, named Tutu. You thought it was a son but whatever. It's been years since you looked at a textbook. LL: The video loads up, showing a disgustingly familiar human face: Kyle Carter, the leader of Operation: Human Freedom. He's a pretty well known Human Rights Terrorist, who thinks all trolls, full or half, should be shot on sight. LL: "People of Earth! I bring great tidings of hope, for all of us. Queen Lila's daughter, Tutu, is finally ready to step out of the shadows and lead us back to glory!" A few voices cheer, he's obviously not alone. CC: He watches intently. What could this human be up to? LL: "We have with us today a disgusting troll spy!" The audience boos and jeers, as the camera pans away from Kyle to show Varani, her arms tied behind her back, on her knees in the middle of an all white room. She's been beaten badly, and seems barely able to stay conscious. CC: He growls at the screen. LL: "Our beloved princess has condemned this troll to death, for threatening the people of Earth, and their safety, and has elected to perform the execution herself, to bring hope to those disjointed humans who still try to make peace with our troll oppressors, and to show her dedication to Operation: Human Freedom!" More voices cheering. CC: "There goes my ride to Castle Calier and everyone's ride off these dying rocks." He knows he's talking to a screen. LL: The camera cuts to a human doctor, who basically just says that he's done genetic tests, this is Lila's daughter, and explains that she's trans. Sounds like more of those stupid human gender roles and politics and shit. Why can't they be like trolls, where no one gives a damn about that stuff except perverts? CC: "So the princess 'is' a prince. Whatever." LL: Finally, the screen returns to Varani. Though now two humans have joined her on screen. A peach haired girl in a ball gown, and a lanky human nearby. The date on the corner of the screen reveals this was a sweep ago, about a week after the last message from Varani. The girl calmly explains that she is Princess Tutu, and the human beside her is her "betrothed" (she stumbles over the word, blushing profusely) named "Mute". He doesn't speak. LL: She goes on to explain that the troll is a spy, and must be executed for stumbling upon the compound where she has been kept safe throughout her life. She asks the troll if they have any last words. Varani begins sobbing, explaining she's a scientist, and only found their compound on accident. Then she becomes quiet, and asks them to tell her daughter she loves her. The video cuts suddenly, and the Princess is holding up a gun, shaking like a leaf, while the other human, Mute, has his arms around her. Watching closely, you see that the Princess doesn't pull the trigger. Mute does. LL: Afterward, the video cuts to just Kyle on screen, explaining the Princess is still young, and sensitive, and must be protected at all costs from the troll menace. It lists a phone number humans can call, to get connected with their local cell of Operation: Human Freedom. CC: He makes note of the number. He was gonna call alright, he was gonna make a house call. LL: The video ends. CC: "Fuck. Fuck Kyle. Fuck his kids. Fuck!" He needed that report. Everyone needed that report and he needed a way to that damned sky castle. He wasn't sure if he could trust the number given the disk was part of a trap. Hmm...Varani checked in about a week before this, heading to the furthest point on earth... "Might find those fuckers if I follow her steps." LL: Are you going to follow her, then? Towards the Furthest Point of Earth? CC: Yes. CC: Only a few more days in that direction. He wants to try to find the humans himself before he calls their number. LL: All right. As you head further out, the forest becomes more and more dense. Eventually the road ends, leaving you with nothing ahead but thick knots of roots. You could probably navigate it on your bike, if you take your time. Or you can leave your bike here, and walk. CC: He's disheartened to leave his bike, but it may be too loud if he's coming up on the human's hidey-hole and he can't move fast enough with the roots in the way. LL: You do see a small hollow nearby where you can hide it. Provided you make it back, you can grab it again. CC: He's going to leave his bike there so it's not out in the open as he moves deeper into the forest. CC: He also thinks to take the turret off of his bike, heavy weaponry is the best weaponry. LL: After a few hours, you hear a few people approaching through the trees. You have only a moment or two to hide. CC: He ducks behind a tree. LL: A group of humans, only a few years older than you, with automatic rifles, appear from behind the trees. They don't seem to be actively searching, and are chatting. "So someone went into the shack?" "Yeah, they took the disc. Hopefully it was just a human, but Captain Carter doubled the patrols regardless." "Yeah, but is he paying us more?" "I don't know. Take it up with him." "Ugh. Probably not then. You know how stingy he is." CC: He thinks a curse to himself. Of course they'd notice he took the disc. It's not like he can leave that kind of intel though. He debates killing the guards, he could ambush and cut them down with their backs turned. No, inadvisable, too many and a grenade is too loud. He's going to let them pass for now, moving in the direction they came from after they're out of earshot. LL: it takes them a bit to get out of sight and earshot, but they go. It appears they came from deeper in the forest, you're heading that way? CC: Yes. LL: You travel for another day, avoiding the patrols that come out every three hours or so from the direction you're heading. Eventually, you notice the trees are beginning to thin out, and you see a chain link fence beyond the forest, and buildings on the other side of it. The sun is just now setting, and the dying light glints off the razor wire at the top of the fence. CC: He scouts around the outer fence of the compound, there has to be opening without guards posted or a spot where he can cut through or tunnel under the fence. LL: There's a large, house looking building. There's a guard nearby, but it looks like he's passed out. You could probably cut the fence here without him noticing. CC: He gets to work, cutting through the links in a vertical line. He'll be able to push his way through the fence, but from a distance, it'd be hard to tell it was an opening. He gingerly, ever so gingerly, enters the compound. LL: As the sun sinks below the horizon, floodlights come on. The area you are, thankfully, is still cast in shadow, and the shadows only seem darker from the bright lights elsewhere. The building directly ahead of you is still dark. CC: Any building could hold his target, so he starts his search. Looking for a window to see into the building in front of him. LL: There are two windows on this side you can get to without accessing the guard. This appears to be living quarters of some type. LL: The first window shows a large dining room, no one is in there. The second shows a living room. A human woman is in there, asleep on the couch. The TV is on, playing an old movie. On screen, a human obviously intended to be Queen Lila is weeping into the arms of a human soldier, a large garnet ring on her hand. CC: That's one building down, his eyes linger on the sleeping human though. Might know what he's looking for. He tries to estimate how many other buildings there are to check, wondering if the risk of a human's attention is worth it. LL: There are dozens of buildings, many heavily guarded. You know better than to dig around in all of them. CC: He takes a deep breath, calming his nerves before attempting to pry open the window as silently as possible. LL: It glides up easily, the sound of the TV becoming audible. The guard stirs, you'd better hurry. CC: He's in the window in a heartbeat with all the stealth and grace he can manage, praying the TV is louder than him and ducking out of sight so he can't be seen from the window. LL: The guard wakes up, and glances in the window. "Damn it Drew... leaving windows open. Carter will have your head if he finds out." The guard slowly lowers the window shut, and resumes his post, his back to you. CC: He grins as the guard returns to his post. He draws his halberd as he approaches the sleeping human. He slaps a hand over her mouth and puts the spear tip of the halberd up to her face. LL: The woman's eyes flare open, and she looks around wildly before her eyes settle on your face. Tears begin welling up in her eyes. CC: "Hello Drew. It's nothing personal, but I need your help and you need to help me if you want to live, understand? Nod if you understand." LL: She nods quickly, her hands shaking. She reaches into her shirt for something slowly. LL: She carefully pulls her shirt down to reveal a scar. To a human, it would look like a jumble of erratic cuts. But it is easily readable in Alternian, It says "Friends of Felling" With the Autocrats Symbol layered beneath it. She carefully pulls her shirt up to cover it again. CC: "Well this is a lucky break. I'll remove the hand. If that's a lie and you scream, you'll get a new scar to go with it." He waits a moment and slowly pulls the hand and weapon away from her face. LL: She exhales slowly. "Thanks for not killing me. You're the Autocrat's favorite, his Moirail's kid, right?" CC: "No problem. Yeah, that's me. Glad to see an agent of ours and not one of Carter's killers." LL: She chuckles nervously. "What are you doing here? This place will get you killed." CC: "This place killed a person I was sent to find. I'm here for some information that person had on them." LL: "You mean the Surveyor." She breathes. "Kyle kept her report, locked in his office. I've been trying to get access to that office to get a copy. But I know someone has seen it who might tell you." CC: "That's the one." He nods at the name drop. "Who?" LL: Drew bites her lip. "The Princess." Category:Dain